Aquarius Undone
by Cadorean
Summary: An orphan and his brother along with many others have powers. Little do they know, their powers are special.


It was a cold and dreary morning over the miniscule estate that Cadorean called home. He popped himself out of bed, tossed on his coat, and headed downstairs to make his breakfast. The thirteen-year-old child had gotten used to living just with his kid brother Biltwoath, after his family was either murdered or abducted one year ago today. But still, company was nice when he had it, no matter who it was. He grabbed a chunk of bread, and headed off to explore.

Cadorean was a tall, limber young man, with a peculiar scar over his right eye. He had long, blondish hair, which covered his left eye completely. He was somewhat quirky, constantly mumbling to himself, but he was still brilliant beyond any man's years. Biltwoath was dwarfed compared to Cadorean, but only because of the age difference. Biltwoath was also tall, with short-cropped, jet-black hair, and a scar on his left eye that matched Cadorean's. The boys got their scars from the raids last year, when a crazy-looking noble slashed their faces, and told them they were now "the marked heroes."

The brothers lived in a dangerous part of the kingdom, although Cadorean was the scariest thing there. For he was special – he could manipulate ice in any way he chose. The when and why of his strange gift was unknown to Cadorean, but still he accepted and honed it.

As he stood there, finished with his breakfast, he felt a hot hand on his shoulder. He knew that it was Ajantra, but still acted surprised so as to humor his friend. He spun around, freezing himself as he did, so as to look even more scared. Little did he expect, though, he was looking eye to eye with Colonel Roncus, of the Special Gifts and Abilities division of the royal military. Roncus's only reason to be back here could have been one thing – recruitment.

Roncus was a fire, and a strong one to boot. He had fiery red hair, which he kept in a neatly pulled ponytail. He wore dark clothes: long black pants, a cheveral jacket, and a tattered, blood-red cape. He always wore his uniform, no matter where he went – but, the annoying part was that he wore all of his badges, all the time. He was incredibly arrogant – arrogant to the point that even his friends loathed him. He would walk up to any person on the street and try and recruit them – man, woman, or child.

"I thought I made it clear last time that I don't want to join the army as some grunt. Throwing my life away for something I don't believe in, it's about the dumbest thing I can think of." Cadorean was completely intolerant of the military. Be it a navy position like last time, freezing the seas around enemy vessels; or the marines like two months ago, where he would be used to defend via shields; or an army position like from the summer visit, stopping enemy gun barrels, making them easier to slaughter.

"I'm not here recruiting for the military today," Roncus said in his trained, monotonous tone, "I'm not even coming as a military officer. Today I'm coming to you, personally, asking if you would join me and two of my men in a campaign unlike any you've heard of before. We are setting out to another world. The origin of the gifts." He started to break his military formality and get excited.

Cadorean, still annoyed at Roncus, told him to come back tomorrow for a verdict. Roncus said to take as long as he liked, and that Cadorean was free to come down to his office anytime to say if he was in or not. So Cadorean thanked him, and pushed him on his way. Cadorean ran inside, just as Biltwoath was coming down.

"You're never here when I wake up," Biltwoath stated listlessly, "you're always off in the forest by now, doing who knows what. What's new about today?"

"Biltwoath, has your gift come yet?" Cadorean said, getting nothing but a shrug for a response. "If your gift comes in anytime soon, then you might be able to go on an adventure. You see, Colonel Roncus just came by saying that he wanted some strong people to accompany him on an adventure to another world. And if you want, you can come."

Biltwoath looked sad that he didn't have a gift yet, so Cadorean suggested that they try and bring it out. Cadorean grabbed another coat for Biltwoath, and another chunk of bread. Biltwoath shot right through his breakfast, tossed the coat over his shoulders, and was outside before Cadorean, who had nothing to do. Impressed, Cadorean started trudging along towards the deeper part of the woods, Biltwoath close behind. After about ten minutes, Cadorean quickly stopped, making Biltwoath bump into him. They chuckled as Cadorean sat on a large rock. He turned his hand into a massive claw, slashing the rock as it let out an ocean of light. Biltwoath let out a sigh of awe as Cadorean captured some of the light in a ball of ice.

As the light subsided, Cadorean said to Biltwoath, "Break open this ball and let out the light. Until then, your light shall also be subdued." As Cadorean stepped down from the rock, Biltwoath grabbed the ball, a chipper smile on his face. Cadorean asked for the ball to be thrown to him, but Biltwoath instead threw it in the air, playing with it as if the ball held no special meaning. After a few hours, Cadorean decided that today was not the day, so he and Biltwoath went back to the castle to call it a night.

By the time they returned, Biltwoath was fast asleep, ball tightly in his grasp. Cadorean tossed him into bed, and fell asleep thinking what Biltwoath's gift would be.

The next day, as Cadorean woke up, he heard a thump and a shatter coming from the kitchen. He dashed downstairs to see that his little brother had broken open the ball! Cadorean asked how he did it, and got the response: "I dropped it from really high up!" Shocked, Cadorean asked him to do it again, to find Biltwoath flying!

"W-wind," Cadorean stammered in amazement, "you have wind! And you can fly! But if you can do that, why didn't you just slice the ball from the safe ground? I mean, you could have killed yourself!"

"Wait, so I could have sliced it?" Biltwoath said, again rather lethargically. "Oh well," and Biltwoath wandered off to the forest. Cadorean followed after him, realizing that it was needless to worry. As Cadorean made his way to the village, he started to think about what sort of things Biltwoath could do. He knew Biltwoath could fly; that was a given. Anyone could slice, by way of how gifts work. But what else could his baby brother do? All Cadorean could do was wonder...

When he got to the village a few hours later, little was he shocked when he encountered Roncus. What amazed Cadorean was who was with him. For he saw, next to the colonel, sweet little Biltwoath, floating along with an ice cream in his hands.

"Biltwoath, come here." Cadorean was getting annoyed at the meddling of Roncus. "And you, Roncus, if you're going to be such a pain in the ass, wanting me in your military, don't use my baby brother to get to me. He's only seven. Confront me directly. I can handle you." And at that, Cadorean spat at the ground, and gestured for Biltwoath to come over. Roncus took it as a challenge, and demanded a duel between him and Cadorean. If Roncus were to win, he may enlist both brothers into his army. But, if Cadorean were to win, he may take Biltwoath home never to be bothered again.

One slapdash arena later, the men set up some oil and water on either side, respectively, for them to use. Platitudinous peasants peered perceptively into the pious place, perplexed as to the people who peeled back each other's skin. Others openly ogled on the other edge, hoping that one would eradicate the other.

Slashing and burning, the men relentlessly attacked each other. Luckily, Cadorean found an opening fairly quickly, freezing Roncus's chest. Roncus fell to the ground, writhing in pain, and Cadorean placed a foot on his shoulder. Roncus howled out, and burnt off the ice, as well as Cadorean's foot. Roncus quickly lashed out at Cadorean, but Cadorean retaliated, cloning himself so as to confuse Roncus, and get double the attacks.

Hours later, the two men finally realized that neither could beat the other, and called the duel as a draw. Cadorean, gaining much more respect for Roncus, decided that he and Biltwoath would go on the "campaign" with him. Roncus thanked Cadorean, and left, limping down the street. Cadorean and Biltwoath also left, Biltwoath having to carry Cadorean for the most part.

When the brothers got home, they immediately went to work preparing for the journey. They packed all their food and water in cases of ice, and Biltwoath levitating things. About an hour later, with both boys ready, they set off for Roncus's office, completely forgetting that Roncus was battered (thanks to Cadorean). They came up to the front door, and Cadorean reached out his hand to knock, when all of a sudden, he fell to the ground, writhing in pain, hand clutched over his right eye.

"Cadorean!" Biltwoath screamed, and flew through an open window on the second story. He dashed through the halls, looking for Roncus. Finally, when Biltwoath found him, he grabbed him, and flew him straight out of the building, straight to Cadorean. Roncus looked down, and saw that Cadorean's eye was glowing. He looked back up, and saw Biltwoath's eye glowing as well.

"Oh, rock me sexy Jesus," Roncus stammered out, as the boys' eyes started to trail light between them. And all of a sudden, Biltwoath grew wings, and Cadorean's hands turned to claws. And big, tough Roncus fainted.

When Roncus came-to, he couldn't believe it. The two boys were impressive, to say the least. The feathers on Biltwoath's wings had become serrated, and Cadorean grew an icy trail of spikes down his back. But the disconcerting thing was their expressions – both were identical, both were amazed.

When they finally moved again, Roncus immediately asked them what was wrong. They said nothing, but grabbed a mirror and showed Roncus himself. Roncus's hands were flaming, and his shirt was burnt off to reveal a blazing tattoo serpent.

And Roncus passed back out.


End file.
